On Tuesday, Nov. 4, Middletown Mayor Joseph DeStefano won a landslide victory in the mayoral election, earning 83 percent of the vote and will now serve his fourth consecutive term. In an exclusive interview with Vision Times, DeStefano called the result a “vote of confidence” in his team and a mandate to continue delivering “affordability, safety, and transparency.”
“Well, I’m very happy, obviously, that the voters supported me for re-election once again,” DeStefano said. “Yeah, but I’m also happy that our team was returned. We’ve had an excellent team of people. We’ll have two new players, Kevin Gomez in the Second Ward and Alex Rodriguez in the Fourth Ward. So we have a good team of city officials. We have a good team of department heads and employees. So we’re very happy that the team is staying together.”
‘If you believe your eyes’
DeStefano told voters during the campaign to ignore rhetoric and judge for themselves. “Do you see stable taxes in our community from the city? Yes. Do you see improved recreational facilities? Slater field, reservoir, trails, additional parks. Do you see the infrastructure improvements, the new sidewalks, the new lighting, the new curbing, the projects like the bus terminal, projects like the O&W station, the parking garage. If you believe your eyes, then you’ll return us to office. And they did.”
He said the message was clear: “We want affordability. The city did the Good Cause Eviction. We’re also adding more affordable housing units, right? They want safety. We’ve reduced crime by 50 percent over the past 15 years. They want transparency. We’ve been probably the most transparent local government in the Hudson Valley. We televise our meetings live. We have all our committee meetings live, and decisions were all made publicly.”
Downtown store owner Ugo agreed. “Yeah, [the] mayor’s election victory is also our victory. It’s also my victory. He’s been working so hard, [a] lot of changes you see. Middletown is wearing a different face, right? We need somebody like him at this time.”
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Top priorities: Finish projects, keep services strong, expand housing
DeStefano laid out three immediate goals:
- Complete projects already underway: “The O&W station, the parking garage, and some of the public improvements that we’ve been working on in regards to infrastructure.”
- Day-to-day operations: “Public safety, sanitation, cleanliness, economic development, affordability, working with private developers to get more affordable housing.”
- Respond to urgent needs: He cited the city’s rapid replacement of federal SNAP cuts: “When the federal government cut off that money… We were able to mobilize very quickly, and we led the Hudson Valley with local municipalities coming forward and putting up other funds in order for people to have the benefit of getting food. Isn’t that crazy in America? We have to have people begging now for food, right?
Benchmarks for the next year, he said, include “the 13th straight year of being within the state tax cap” while still increasing services, plus continued crime reduction and a strong partnership with the Middletown school district.
Affordable housing remains the ‘number one issue’
“The affordable housing, that is probably the number one issue on many people’s minds,” DeStefano said. The city is “working with the housing authority on [an] additional 100 units” and renovating 199 existing ones. “We adopted the Good Cause Eviction. It’s not going to help retroactively, but it will help control rents moving forward.”
Ugo echoed the worry: “For me right now is increasing rent, the rent increase here over 100 percent right? Am I going to pay the rent? I don’t know, right? A lot of people [are] complaining about that issue.”
She added, “people are hungry right now. Even those that used to afford right meals, they can’t. Thank God most children in the school eat breakfast, right? Eat lunch, right? We just want people to come out of poverty.”
Tyrina, another local business owner, called for “rent stabilization, I know my rent is high, and I think him offering free bus fares is a good idea too.”
Proactive policing and social service links
Crime has fallen 50 percent from 2010–2024, with 2025 numbers “dropping, again, significantly.” DeStefano credited outreach: “It’s not just reactive policing, but we’re more proactive. A lot of outreach that’s done with youth, embedded within the police department organizations like Hope Not Handcuffs, Fearless… a service coordinator… funded for two years. We had such great success with it, we have now made it a permanent city position under the police department.”
Regional jobs strategy
New factories like Polycraft are opening, but DeStefano emphasized a broader view: “We wholesale water and sewer to these other communities. Monday night, we just passed an agreement with Goshen, that will enable the commercial area on 17M to market their properties for industrial and commercial development. It’s also a good revenue generator for the city.”
Ugo wants more local jobs: “We need corporations, companies to come. People need jobs instead of commuting to the city. Even if you have a job of 50-60,000 in the city, you’re better off staying in Middletown.”
Residents praise visibility, safety, revitalization
- Claudy: “Very happy he got re-elected. He did a lot of work, yeah, Middletown now you look really, really different. A lot of people come in, this is a good thing.”
- Matt: “The mayor has done a wonderful job. It’s a model for other similar towns across New York state. We’re very happy to be a part of the renaissance and the revitalization of Middletown, with the diversity and with the economic opportunity.”
- Tyrina on safety: “This area is quite safe, police station. I don’t, I never had an issue with my safety.”
- Diana simply said the most important issue is “safety.”
Tyrina suggested signage to draw foot traffic: “Put signs up, directing people to this location. A lot of people don’t know that there’s things that’s in this back area. Things that could make a big difference.”
A direct, hard-working style
DeStefano says he’s become “a better listener now that I have grandchildren,” but remains direct: “If I like the project, I let them know I like it. If I don’t like it, let them know I don’t like it. I work hard here early, so I think people appreciate that.”
Ugo feels the connection: “He comes out, goes, even the police, they come to ask everything. Okay, we have that security right here, 100 percent, I’m very friendly with the police. That’s the best way connection.”
As DeStefano put it, “The results of the election, you know, 83 percent is more of a message that people like what’s happening and will continue to work hard for them.”
